We analyzed serum and tumor samples from 133 patients with operable primary breast cancer to determine the possible relationship between presurgery and postsurgery circulating serum vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) levels and tumor-associated macrophage (TAM) numbers, tumor VEGF expression, and other immunohistochemical parameters. A significant positive correlation was observed between the number of TAM and postsurgery circulating VEGF values (P < .05). Moreover, patients with a p53+ tumor had higher postsurgery serum VEGF levels than those with a p53- tumor (P < .05), and tumor p53 overexpression correlated significantly with TAM number (P = .007). We observed no significant association between serum values and tumor VEGF expression. Although the macrophage index was higher in VEGF+ than in VEGF- tumors, the differences were not statistically significant. Our data show a positive interrelation between high circulating VEGF levels, the number of TAM, and p53 overexpression, a relationship that might have an important role in the enhanced angiogenesis processes in breast cancer.

In situ anionic homo-and copolymerization of caprolactam (CL) and laurolactam (LL) with sodium montmorillonite clay (NaMMT) was carried out using two different initiators, sodium caprolactamate (CLNa) and caprolactam magnesium bromide (CLMgBr). Degree of conversion and final molecular weight were used to assess the advancement and efficiency of the polymerization reaction and X-ray diffraction and electron microscopy were used to evaluate the sodium montmorillonite clay intercalation/exfoliation. The use of CLNa as initiator produced a higher conversion degree and molecular weight than the use of CLMgBr. Through DSC, it was observed that CLNa and CLMgBr tended to produce random and block copolymer structures, respectively, and either random or block, this eventually has an effect on the clay dispersion within the polymer matrix. In all cases, increasing the LL content produced a decrease in the conversion degree and in the molecular weight of the resulting polymer.

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